In a galaxy far, far away...

...might as well be, given how little internet access I'll have for the next couple of weeks. Happy new year to all, best wishes for 2006 and if you're going to have that extra drink, make sure your car keys are in the hands of a DD or the cab driver.

Arrive alive, don't drink and drive!

Odd...

...that at the same time I'm deleting material from my blog for professional reasons, a Liberal gets fired for ugly things he wrote on his blog. The things that I write today will come back to haunt me when, exactly?

Censorship

So I decided to remove my Christmas party tirade, just in case....my feelings haven't changed, just my courage.

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, and a whole word of other languages! (Credit to AC who sent it from who knows where, apologies for formatting which is my own.)

Afrikaans - Geseende Kerfees en 'n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Albanian - Gézuar Krishlindjet Vitin e Ri!
Amharic - Melkam Yelidet Beaal
Arabic - I'D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida
Aramaic- Edo bri'cho o rish d'shato brich'to!
Argentine -Feliz Navidad
Armenian - Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Aromunian - Crãciunu hãriosu shi unu anu nãu, bunu!
Azeri - Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia - Selamat Hari Natal
Basque - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali - Shuvo Baro Din - Shuvo Nabo Barsho
Bohemian - Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian - Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Breton - Nedeleg laouen na bloav ezh mat
Bulgarian - Vasel Koleda; Tchestita nova godina!
Catalan - Bon nadal i feliç any nou!
Cantonese -Seng Dan Fai Lok, Sang Nian Fai Lok
Chile Feliz Navidad Chinese (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Choctaw - Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Cornish -Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsican - Bon Natale e Bon capu d' annu
Crazanian - Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree - Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Creek - Afvcke Nettvcakorakko
Croatian - Sretan Bozic
Czech - Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish - Glædelig Jul og godt nytår
Duri - Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
Egyptian - Colo sana wintom tiebeen
English - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Eskimo - Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto - Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian - Rõõmsaid jõulupühi
Euskera - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On
Faeroese - Gledhilig jól og eydnurikt n?ggjár!
Farsi - Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish - Hyvää Joulua or Hauskaa Joulua
Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French - Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
Frisian - Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Friulian - Bon Nadâl e Bon An Gnûf
Gaelic -Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ur!
Galician - Bon Nadal e Bo Ani Novo
German - Frohliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Kala Christougenna Kieftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
Greenlandic - Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit
Hausa - Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka (MC) Hauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)
Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Shana Tova
Hindi - Shub Naya Baras
Hungarian -Hungarian -Merry Christmas=Kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket
happy new year = Kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket es boldog uj evet
Icelandic - Gle?ileg Jól og Farsaelt Komandi ár!
Indonesian -Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish -Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Japanese -Merry Christmas=MERII KURISUMASU Happy New Year=SHINNEN AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU
Jèrriais - Bouan Noué et Bouanne Année
Karelian - Rastawanke Sinun, Uvven Vuvenke Sinun
Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Krio - Appi Krismes en Appi Niu Yaa
Kurdish - Seva piroz sahibe u sersala te piroz be
Ladin - Bon Nadel y Bon Ann Nuef
Lappic - Buorit Juovllat ja Buorre Oddajahki
Latin - Natale hilare et Annum Nuovo!
Latvian - Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian - Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu ir laimingu Nauju metu
Livian - Riiemlizi Talspividi ja pagin vonno udaigastos
Low Saxon -Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Luxemburgish - Schéi Krëschtdeeg an e Schéint Néi Joer
Macedonian -Streken Bozhik
Malay - Selamat Hari Natal
Malayalam - Puthuvalsara Aashamsakal
Maltese - Nixtieklek Milied tajjeb u is-sena t-tabja!
Mandarin - Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Manx - Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori -Meri Kirihimete
Marathi - Shub Naya Varsh
Mongolian - Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye
Monogasque - Festusu Natale e Bona ana noeva
Norwegian -God Jul og Godt Nyttår
Occitan -Polit nadal e bona annada
Oriya -Sukhamaya christmass ebang khusibhara naba barsa
Papiamento - Bon Pasco y un Feliz Aña Nobo
Papua New Guinea - Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Philippines Maligayang Pasco at Manigong Bagong Taon
Pashto - De Christmas akhtar de bakhtawar au newai kal de mubarak sha.
Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag unen hallich Nei Yaahr!
Polish - Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Portuguese - Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Punjabi - Nave sal di mubaraka
Pushto - Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Raeto-Ramance - Bella Festas da zNadal ed in Ventiravel Onn Nov
Rapa-Nui - Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian - Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche - Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Romani (GYPSY) - Bachtalo krecunu Thaj Bachtalo Nevo Bers
Romanian - Hristos s-a Nascut si Anul Nou Fericit
Russian - Pozdravlyau s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i c Novym Godom
Sami - Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan - La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardian - Felize Nadale e Bonu Cabuannu
Sardinian -Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Scots Gaelic -Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serbian -Hristos se rodi
Surinamese (SRANANTONGO):Wan Santa Bedaki
Singhalese - Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Sorbian - Wjesole hody a strowe Nowe leto.
Somali - ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican.
Slovakian - Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok
Slovak - Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene - Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto
Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Swahili - ºKrismas Njema Na Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº
Swedish - God Jul och Gott Nytt År and S Rozhdestvom Kristovym
Serbian -HRISTOS SE RODI! SRECNA NOVA GODINA!
Sudanese - Wilujeng Natal Sareng Warsa Enggal
Tagalog - Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon
Tamil - Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Thai - Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai
Tok Pisin - Meri Krismas & Hepi Nu Yia
Tongan - Kilisimasi Fiefia & Ta'u fo'ou monu ia
Trukeese - Neekirissimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Tswana - Keresemose o monate le masego a ngwaga o montsha
Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian - Veseloho Vam Rizdva i Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku!
Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak HoVanina Bon Natale a Tutti
Vepsi - Rastvoidenke i Udenke Vodenke
Vietnamese - Chuc Mung Giang Sinh - Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Welsh - Nadolig LLawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Xhosa - Siniqwenelela Ikrisimesi EmnandI Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo Namathamsanqa
Yayeya - KrisemaYiddish - Gute Vaynakhtn un a Gut Nay Yor
Yoruba - E ku odun, e hu iye' dun!
Zulu - Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle Nonyaka Omusha Onempumelelo

Secret Spies

The issue of a presidential order allowing the NSA to spy on Americans is another example of the Bush administration being convinced that whatever it does is right, with no possible margin of error. Whether or not allowing the NSA to track conversations in the US helps terrorism is not the main issue, but rather the absence of any oversight into that decision.

A liberal democracy enshrines rights and freedoms into its constitution to protect citizens from government intrusions. In this case, the NSA was allowed to eavesdrop on communications but not of Americans without a warrant. The issuance of a warrant is to allow the independent judiciary to oversee the government's actions and decide if there is enough evidence to allow the curtailment of a citizen's rights.

What the Bush administration has done, however, is to do away with warrants altogether, thereby removing the protection of the independent judiciary from the citizens. Bush and Co. want us to believe that they are only spying on the bad guys and no innocent people are having their conversations illegally spied upon. However, Bush and Co. didn't even tell Congress of their actions and made the presidential order allowing this spying secret so no one even knew it existed. So the citizenry has to *hope* that Bush and Co. aren't doing anything to innocent Americans and only trampling on the rights of the guilty. Except, that only Bush and Co. decide who is guilty, there is no judicial review of the evidence.

Furthermore, the issue of whether or not this intrusion into civil liberties saves lives is subordinate to the issue of independent oversight. Bush and Co. can make the argument that they had to spy on these targets because of the possibility of averting a terrorist attack. Fair enough, but at some point there has to be a limit to that instrusion or a judicial or congressional review to determine if the threat continues to justify the trampling of civil liberties. If they have been spying on certain people for three years and still haven't arrested anyone, when will they get enough evidence to do so? Are these people still threats? Who decides which people will have their liberties curtailed?

The US Constitution deliberately has a division of powers to avoid the concentration of powers into a dictator; Bush and Co. have thumbed their nose at the Constitution with the hubris that they won't do anything wrong. By not allowing either Congressional or judicial oversight of this presidential decree, they already have.

Munich

I'm uncertain as to what I really think about this movie. It seems to try to make several different points, and succeeds only partly in all of them. It is a movie about a country seeking vengeance for a barbarous attack, and, as the tagline of the movie says, negotiate with its values in doing so. It is also a movie of the individual who loses a sense of self amidst the barbarity of the retribution. It is also a movie about the futility of violence and how the cycle can continue forever (game theory with a very destructive payoff, as was pointed out to me). It is also a movie about family, betrayal, the fine line (or lack thereof) between good and evil, and a host of other issues, including collective guilt and sacrifice for one's country.

I want to like the movie and can find several parts about it that I do, but in the end, it was just too little about too much so that the entire point of the movie is forgotten by the end.

A five out of ten, but I'm being harsh.

Opinion Polls

I note with concern that the opinion polls haven't moved much in the first four weeks of the election campaign. My concern is that, despite numerous policy announcements and a strong message and image, Harper and the Tories may not be connecting with the voters, and after Christmas, the Liberal attack ads will be out accusing Harper of sacrificing virgin immigrant women to please his religious cult-like gawd.

It occurs to me, however, that the opinion polls may be dealing with a small pool of respondents. If you want to get 1500 people to answer questions about their voting tendencies, you need to make a lot of phone calls to do it. Now try during Christmas season, when people are too busy for themselves, let alone a half-hour telemarketing phone call asking for your opinion. Far more people are likely to say "too busy", "don't care", "no opinion" because people really aren't paying attention yet. So you end up talking to the same 1500 people over and over again.

Or so I hope....

Syriana

The latest George Clooney flick is quite a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat through a goodly part of the movie. It packs quite a wallop and some of the characters are very well-drawn and compelling. Others, however, leave much to be desired and I was left wondering why they were there at all.

That said, the movie is predictable in that the Americans are bad, the good guy goes bad and then discovers the value of family (happy ending sop) and vindication comes to the hero (though violently in the end).

Overall, 3.5 stars out of 5, mainly because once the thrill wears off, you start to wonder what exactly you liked about the movie. A fun time if you don't ask too many questions.

And the winner is...

Despite the wallop that mother nature provided late last week, I was still able to get most of the English language debate on television. I'm actually quite impressed with the debate, although I felt the time limits could have been a little bit longer for the replies. The big surprise for me was Gilles Duceppe, he has a good speaking style (low bombast content) and had what I thought was the winning line of the evening (NAFTA isn't the problem, the American refusal to honour NAFTA is the problem). The comedy highlight moment was Paul Martin chest-thumping his love for Canada and Duceppe's sputtering intial reaction to the attack.

Martin was short on substance, again, resorting to tired cliches and wild hand gestures, while Stephen Harper, yet again, was all substance and no sizzle. It's unfortunate that he always reverts back to a life-like pose, although it appeared to me that he was making a conscious effort to smile more. In the pre-television age, Harper would be a runaway favourite for this year's election, but since the voters want more Jessica Simpson, less Stephen Hawking, Harper is automatically at a disadvantage in the media circus.

Big surprise of the night for me is how Jack Layton almost exclusively attacked Martin, it was like the NDP leader didn't want to acknowledge anyone else.

In the absence of any negative fear-mongering from the Liberals (good luck with that), I think a Tory majority is not impossible. Yes, it's biased, but the only reason people have to vote for Paul Martin is because they are too afraid of Harper; in the absence of fear, Harper has a lock on the vote, as he builds up the trust.

Still over a month to go though, never underestimate the sleaze a desperate Liberal can come up with.

Voting to the oldies

"In what may be a political first in the British Commonwealth, former governor general Edward Schreyer will announce his candidacy Thursday as a New Democrat Party candidate in Winnipeg."

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051213/elxn_ed_schreyer_051214

So in the last election, we had Ed Broadbent come out of retirement to run as a candidate, never mind the fact that he first one election back in the days of Trudeau (before Trudeau went bad, yes, that long ago!). Now another old warhorse is being brought back by "Jumpin'" Jack Layton. If we get another minority government, I fuly expect to have Layton to call upon the spirit of Tommy Douglas to regain his old seat in Saskatchewan.

Absence of new ideas indeed....

Digest

Haven't posted in a while, but all sorts of fun things to get the blood pressure up. To wit:

- Scott Reid's typical arrogance that if you give Canadians money, they will spend it on stupidities like beer and popcorn. Unlike responsible Liberals who will spend it on kickbacks, bribes and just plain vote-buying.

- An editorial in the Ottawa Citizen trying to defend the shoot-to-kill policy, following the gunfire on an American Airlines aircraft in Miami last week. I'm sure that somewhere, out there, is a gun nut wondering "If only we could kill all mental patients...". Meanwhile, criminal charges are going to be slapped against the police officers involved in killing the unarmed Brazilian electrician whose only crime was not looking white enough (which, come to think of it, is the crime of the Hispanic in Miami too). I remember a time when civilized societies argued that it was better to have 1000 guilty men go free than to imprison one innocent man. Now it's "better a dead innocent than some unused ammo".

To be fair, I understand that law enforcement has to make difficult "life-and-death" decisions in a matter of seconds, and I have no problem with that. What I vehemently oppose is that when they make the wrong decision, there are no consequences and, worse, attempts to hide the truth and evade responsibility. If a society is going to give that kind of life-and-death power to law enforcement, then law enforcement better damn realize that there is an awesome responsbility attached to it that can't be discarded when you screw up.

- Same editorial page is a stirring defence of racial profiling, without ever using the word race. Quote:

"Problem is, civil libertarians tend to oppose all forms of criminal profiling, which is what the Toronto case is really about. Debates over profiling normally invoke categories of race and ethnicity, but in this instance the key is geographical proximity. Police believed the victim was killed somewhere in the neighbourhood, so those who live there were suspects."

The Toronto case refers to a woman who was killed and dismembered and whose body parts were found in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto. Police focused on the neighbourhood on the premise that it is difficult to dismember a person in an urban area without leaving evidence. Of course geographic profiling is relevant precisely because you have physical evidence that points towards a killing in the neighbourhood. I'm not aware of any civil libertarians who are concerned about physical proximity to a crime scene, but to say that a black man driving a Porsche must have stolen it is nowhere near the same category. There is no scientific standing to the idea that blacks can only steal expensive cars instead of buying them. Just as there is no scientific standing for the basis that a brown man getting on a plane is a terrorist. Solid police work would look for indicators like how the ticket was paid for, is the luggage consistent with the itinerary, does the person appear nervous, etc...with race and/or religion given a lower ranking.

Yet the editorial deftly gets people to equate geographic proximity as a form of profiling equal to racial profiling. Only the weak would accept such an argument (and the craven publish it).

That's what free speech is all about: kicking the crap out of bad ideas until they die.

Or, as quoted in a U2 song, "kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight."

Greenhouse what?

So with the temperature still along way from the coldest we'll see this winter, I've already seen two cars in parking lots, no one sitting in them, with the engine running. Why isn't anyone stealing these cars?!?!

Happy Birthday!!!

I would have called, but I figured you wanted some time alone this week-end. Hope the gift went well!

PS: Check your e-mail!

Darwin versus Lennon

In a recent issues of Newsweek, the cover section was devoted to Charles Darwin and his writings about evolution. A full, comprehensive look at his work and the controversy that it generated (Pat Robertson's latest stupidity is saying that the Almighty will strike down the citizens of Dover, PA who voted out officials of a school board that sought to bring creationism to science classes), and how his legacy lives on.

They also did a large article about John Lennon and his contributions to music. I admit to being somewhat perplexed that Lennon could get as many pages of coverage as Darwin, given that Darwin's contribution to mankind and society is vastly more significant than Lennon's, but this tends to confirm my view that baby boomers are the most narcissistic generation in the history of humanity. Anything that happened before they arrived, in their opinion, is meaningless.

Ugh....

Going Negative

I sometimes wonder what would happen if a candidate in an election decided not to do negative ads in an election campaign. You can attack the ideas of the record, but not the individual personally. Spend most of your ad budget on outlining your vision of the country (or province, or state, or city or school board, or whatever) and then listing the steps you will take to get there.

In other words, a candidate who talks about why they are better, rather than why the other candidate(s) are worse.

Would such a campaign actually win or do voters enjoy being scared and disgusted during an election campaign?